AT&T Interactive Launches New in-App Local Ads On its Mobile Local Ad Network

GLENDALE, Calif., July 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Locally targeted content increases the opportunity for mobile publishers and advertisers to engage consumers– which is why AT&T Interactive today announced the launch of in-app ads(1) on its mobile local ad network, an extension of the company's premier YP Local Ad Network.

The new capabilities offer participating mobile publishers an enhanced way to generate revenue due to the local relevancy of the ads – and also help advertisers increase potential reach.  Earlier this year, AT&T Interactive piloted in-app advertising on its mobile local ad network and generated over 750 million local ad impressions in three months. The early success makes AT&T Interactive's mobile local ad network one of the fastest growing in the industry.(2)

AT&T Interactive's in-app local ads are served within mobile apps based on a user's location, giving consumers the opportunity to learn about and engage with nearby local businesses. Mobile local advertising is expected to grow at a 57 percent compounded annual growth rate to $2.03 billion in 2014.(3)

"AT&T Interactive's mobile local ad network builds on the long-standing success of our YP Local Ad Network in serving local search ads across three screens via online, mobile and IPTV," said David Krantz, CEO and president at AT&T Interactive. "We're taking advantage of the power of local advertising and the proliferation of location-aware mobile handsets. With our significant inventory of local ads and early success, we are poised to revolutionize the mobile, in-app advertising market."

Local ads increase revenue potential for mobile app publishers

The mobile local ad network from AT&T Interactive provides mobile app publishers superior revenue potential by combining the relevancy of local ads with the interactivity of in-app ads.

"We've experienced eCPMs (effective cost per thousands) three times higher with AT&T Interactive's mobile local ad network than comparable ad networks serving ads that are not local in nature," said Greg Woock, CEO at Pinger, a leading app developer and pilot program publisher.(4)

"Our mobile local ad network will redefine the mobile advertising landscape," said William Hsu, SVP and chief product officer at AT&T Interactive.  "It will fill the gap between premium national networks offering high eCPMs and low fill rates (percentage of ad requests filled with an ad) and remnant ad networks providing low eCPMs and high fill rates."

"Mobile app developers can start serving AT&T Interactive's in-app local ads using our API or one of our platform-specific SDKs (software development kit), making it easy to deploy across all major mobile platforms and wireless carriers," added Krishna Vedati, SVP and general manager of Mobile at AT&T Interactive.

AT&T Interactive's Presence in Local

The AT&T Interactive mobile local ad network benefits from the same assets that have made the YP Local Ad Network successful, which include AT&T Interactive's long history in local advertising, the industry's largest local media sales force across the country and relationships with nearly one million advertisers.  The YP Local Ad Network enables over 300 online and mobile publishers to monetize their properties and provides advertisers a way to generate leads with extended distribution beyond AT&T Interactive's flagship properties - top 40 ranked(5) YP.com and leading YPmobile® application.  In 2010, the YP Local Ad Network served 38.3 billion local ad impressions(6), contributing to AT&T Interactive's nearly $1 billion in revenues(7). Its strong performance also contributed to AT&T Interactive's number one ranking in Borrell Associates' "Benchmarking Local Online Media: 2010 Survey" for the second consecutive year.

Publishers wishing to learn more about AT&T Interactive's mobile local ad network can visit the company's recently unveiled Publisher Center at http://publisher.yp.com.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T Interactive

AT&T Interactive, a subsidiary of AT&T Inc., is an industry leader in creating local search products that encourage consumers to discover and engage with local businesses across three screens - online, mobile, and TV. YP.com, AT&T Interactive's flagship web property, attracts over 30 million monthly online unique visitors.(i) YP.com is also accessed by millions of users each month via the mobile web. AT&T Interactive consumer apps have a pre-activation presence or have been downloaded through digital app stores on over 40 million mobile phones(ii).

The YP Local Ad Network helps advertisers grow their business and distributes ads to a distinguished list of top publishers whose presence spans online, mobile and IPTV. AT&T Interactive's wide range of local ad products such as premium listings, performance-based advertising, and search engine marketing provides advertisers an opportunity to increase their presence among consumers who are looking for a local business. AT&T Interactive local search also offers people search through their AnyWho.com property which features both reverse phone lookup and white pages search.

AT&T Interactive products are supported by over 5,000 media consultants from AT&T Advertising Solutions and other resellers. To learn more visit www.adsolutions.att.com.

Keep tabs on YP products on YP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/YP.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries.  It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T | DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising. 

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at www.att.com.  This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT.

© 2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. Mobile broadband not available in all areas. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

(1) Mobile app developers and publishers who serve AT&T Interactive's in-app local ads are contractually required to respect the privacy of end users.

(2) Impressions for ATTi's pilot program grew 9X Mar-May 2011 (source: ATTi internal).  Impressions on Where grew 3X from Aug 2010 to May 2011. (Source: Where Web site http://site.where.com/news-events/where-in-the-news/where-delivered-over-a-billion-mobile-ads-in-a-month and http://site.where.com/where-ads/brands)  

Impressions on xAD grew 2X from Jan-Apr 2011. (Source: xAD press release www.prweb.com/releases/2011/5/prweb8388518.htm)

(3) BIA/Kelsey's U.S. Mobile Ad Revenue Forecast, 2009-2014, November 2010

(4) AT&T Interactive publisher pilot program participant, trial dates from April 1-30, 2011. This data has not been subject to third party review and is not subject to audit.

(5) comScore, Top 2000 Web Domains Report, May 2011

(6) AT&T Interactive internal data, 12 month data for 2010. This data has not been subject to third party review and is not subject to audit

(7) Q1-Q4 AT&T Corp Earnings briefings

(i) Source: AT&T Interactive internal data, May 2011

(ii) Source: AT&T Mobility and AT&T Interactive internal data

SOURCE AT&T Inc.